September 7th, US time (September 8th, Beijing time) is a special day. In addition to Apple choosing to hold a new product launch today, Tom Ford also decided to release the 2016 autumn and winter series at the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York in the evening of this day, and simultaneously conduct a live video broadcast on its official website. It is reported that the rookie will invite 180 guests to attend. After the dinner, 55 new sets of men's and women's autumn and winter clothing will be unveiled one by one and will be put on sale the next day.

In February this year, Tom Ford followed the footsteps of Burberry and other brands and abandoned the existing fashion release rules. The 2016 autumn and winter series echoed all the hot topics in the current fashion industry: show now and buy now, men's and women's clothing combined and in line with the season.

Before the opening of the show, the designer revealed the behind-the-scenes stories about the show in interviews with WWD, Vogue and other media. Here are the key points we summarized.

Rookie location

The new show will be held at the Four Seasons restaurant located in the Seagram Building in Midtown Manhattan, New York. This restaurant was designed by Philip Johnson (he was a close friend of Tom Ford during his lifetime) and was once a gathering place for New York's upper class. It officially closed in July this year. This time, there was a special reopening day for Tom Ford’s new show. However, since the restaurant’s kitchen was no longer available, the dinner arranged for the new show that night was provided by a third-party caterer appointed by the Tom Ford brand.

Leon Bridges

American singer Leon Bridges performed as a guest after the show - he became famous for his song "Coming Home", which was also used by Apple in the iPhone 6 TV commercial.

The new model does not affect the design process

Tom Ford announced in February that its 2016 autumn and winter men's and women's wear would be moved to September in order to meet seasonal demand and be available for immediate purchase. But in fact, although this series was not publicly displayed at the 2016 New York Autumn and Winter Fashion Week as previously planned, it was designed according to the traditional conference schedule: "I completed the design work in the same time as before, and it was completed six months ago."

Confidentiality Agreement

The reason for this is to consider the needs of buyers. "Our London Showroom will be open as usual in February to display the 2016 autumn and winter series, because buyers from Neiman and Bergdorf need to place orders. However, I have signed confidentiality agreements with all buyers to prevent the new series from being leaked."

2017 New York Spring/Summer Fashion Week

Tom Ford’s 2016 Autumn/Winter Collection was released one day before the opening of the 2017 New York Spring/Summer Fashion Week. The reason for doing so was entirely to coordinate with the promotion of his new film "Nocturnal Animals": the film just completed its premiere at the Venice Film Festival last week. Next week, Tom Ford will go to the Toronto Film Festival with the main creative staff of the film. This week's New York Fashion Week is naturally the perfect time to release the 2016 autumn and winter series, but he does not seem to care about the location: "New York Fashion Week is very important, but if it cannot be planned as expected, then I can also release it at the following Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks."

Show now, buy now

Currently, all Tom Ford 2016 autumn and winter new men's and women's clothing products are ready to go in Tom Ford stores and official online sales platforms around the world, and can be purchased the day after the press conference. In addition, new store windows, lipsticks, perfumes and glasses will also be unveiled and sold.

About Burberry, another brand that adopts the show-and-buy model

"Interestingly, I had already considered adopting this model and had planned an operation plan, but at the last minuteI flinched when I got closer, but it happened that Christopher Bailey (Burberry creative director) announced that they would adopt the same model. I called him and said: Damn, I wanted to do this originally, but you announced it first. Then I sent the same message to the outside world. Although Christopher Bailey stole the spotlight four or five hours earlier than me, it was he who gave me the confidence to try. ”

Although new models such as show now and buy now are adopted, he still holds a wait-and-see attitude towards this

“I don’t know if this model can continue, I’ll have to see how customers respond to it. ”

Even he himself cannot make any changes to the new series

Since buyers from all parties have placed orders as early as February, and all official lookbooks and product images for online sales have been photographed, Tom Ford cannot adjust the design and styling of the 2016 autumn and winter series before the release of the 2016 autumn and winter series (or after the press conference if according to traditional practice): "Before the new show is released, the only thing I can change is the model's hair and makeup. ”

Absolute confidentiality

No editors or stylists previewed the collection: "The reason why I kept it isolated from the media this time is because I didn't want it to be overexposed. ”

Attitude towards fashion media

Compared with publications that require a long time to complete the content, Tom Ford prefers media that can report in a short time, such as newspapers, People, Us Weekly, In Style and Vogue.com.

Los Angeles

As his son is about to start school, Tom Ford plans to temporarily move from London to Los Angeles: "I now also have a studio in Los Angeles. "In addition, he did not buy Beyonce and Jay Z's mansion in Beverly Hills for $50 million as rumored; as for whether he will live in Los Angeles for a long time, his answer is "to be determined."

About the cultural environment and the US election

“I think on a cultural level we’re becoming more and more hollow. The current cultural anti-intellectual trend in the United States has given people like Donald Trump an opportunity to come forward. "In addition, he also pointed out that if Hillary Clinton is elected as the new president of the United States, the situation may improve.

About social media

“Social media will continue to grow in importance and influence. ”

About Rihanna, Kanye West and other stars joining the fashion design industry

“A lot of people underestimate the seriousness of the fashion industry. It’s a difficult and ruthless industry. If you have a strong personal style like Rihanna and are willing to work tirelessly for it, that’s great. One time, I was sitting next to Victoria Beckham on a plane returning from Los Angeles to London. I asked her if she missed her days as a singer, because I had almost forgotten that she was a star before. In my eyes, she is now a serious star.A serious fashion designer. "

The future 2017 spring and summer series

Currently, Tom Ford is in the process of finalizing the design of the 2017 spring and summer series. It is expected that in February next year, the brand will hold a fashion show of the 2017 spring and summer series before the Oscars.